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Three years after Darshan Patel and his brothers sold Paras Pharmaceuticals, built with private equity funds, he is back in the market to raise money for his personal care company Vini Cosmetics. The company which owns brands like Fogg, 18+ deodorants and White Tone Talc, is in advanced talks with PE fund Sequoia Capital to raise around INR 100 crore ($16.78 million) to expand its products in the hair and skin care range and widen its distribution network. The deal is likely to be announced soon. (Economic Times)

ONGC plans to offload 26% in $1 billion unit: Energy behemoth ONGC Group has started the process to sell 26% stake in its soon-to-be commissioned aromatics unit in Mangalore as part of its strategy to unlock value from its vast assets. Promoter ONGC and its subsidiary Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemicals (MRPL) has mandated two financial advisers, ICICI Securities and Deloitte, to identify potential suitors for the over one-fourth stake in Asia’s upcoming largest single stream aromatics plant. The unit, ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals (OMPL), spread across 442 acres, has been built at a cost of INR 5,800 crore to produce paraxylene and benzene, key raw materials for petrochemical intermediaries. The plant will go onstream by October. Besides selling 26% stake in OMPL, the energy major intends to divest another 25% through an IPO in the future. The promoter group will eventually hold 49% stake of OMPL, in which they have so far infused INR 980 crore. ONGC is planning to tap the capital markets for OMPL, OPAL and ONGC Tripura Power as these projects are nearing completion. (Times of India)

Deutsche to exit $70m stake in Bangalore realtor: Promoters of southern developer Golden Gate Properties are in the process of buying back stake worth $70 million from an investment arm of Deutsche Bank, as the global financial powerhouse pushes to exit India’s troubled real estate sector. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management had invested in the Bangalore-based developer about six years ago for a 30% stake in the holding company. The promoters are structuring the buyback through a mix of deferred payments and release of guarantees issued to the investor. (Times of India)

Hexaware plans to buy a firm by early next year: Hexaware Technologies Ltd. is currently pursuing four large deals over $25 million (INR 148.7 crore) two in North America and two in Europe. The company expects to close one deal each in US and Europe in the next two quarters. The firm is also have two $10 million (INR 59 crore) deals in the pipeline and expected to announce an acquisition in early 2014. Hexaware Technologies also reported a 10% rise in Q2 net profit at Rs 97.9 crore and a 5.7% increase in revenues at INR 536.6 crore. (DNA)

Tata Sky equity rejig gets Attorney General’s nod: The Attorney-General of India has given his approval to Tata Sky’s proposal to change its equity structure. According to the proposal, Omega TC Holdings and Tata Capital will be the new shareholders in the Direct-To-Home company. Post the deal, Tata Sons’ share in the company is expected to come down by about three per cent. Tata Sky is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch’s STAR. Currently, Tata Sons owns 60%, while STAR owns a 30% stake. (Business Line)

Avis plans to raise stake in Indian JV Mercury Car Rentals: American car rental company Avis is raising stake in its India joint venture Mercury Car Rentals. The New Jersey-based company has sought approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to buy 27% stake in the joint venture from the Oberoi group for INR 18 crore ($3 million). Avis currently holds 33.33% stake in the company, which would increase to 60% once the proposal is cleared by the board. (Economic Times)

Rashtriya Ispat decides to prune stake in Afghanistan project: State-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) has decided to prune stake in the $11 billion steel project in Afghanistan, the biggest investment proposal by a pack of seven Indian steel firms abroad, citing delay and uncertainty hovering over the venture. RINL, which has 18 % stake in SAIL-led consortium, Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium (AIFSCO), has decided to trim its stake to “as low as it can” in the project. SAIL has 20% stake in the Afghan venture; while PSUs NMDC and RINL hold 18% each. JSW Steel and JSPL hold 16% each, while JSW Ispat and Monnet Ispat have 8% and 4% stakes respectively in the project. (Economic Times)

Bayer CropScience plans INR 455 crore share buyback offer: Agro-chemical firm Bayer Crop Science is planning to acquire shares through buyback. The board has approved proposal to buy back about 28.79 lakh equity shares for around INR 455 crore ($76.38 million). The board has unanimously approved a buyback proposal. The buyback programme would be subject to approval of the shareholders by way of a special resolution through postal ballot and all other applicable statutory approvals. (Economic Times

Milestone Capital plans to focus on exits as part of revival strategy: Nearly two years after the death of founder Ved Prakash Arya in an accident in August 2011, Milestone Capital Advisors Ltd is making an attempt to pull its business back on track. The resurrection plans are led by wife Rubi Arya, along with a team of professionals, who decided to shelve negotiations to sell the financial services firm. In the last two years, the company has returned INR 970 crore to investors and is looking at another INR 700 crore of exits in the next six months. In February, it sold Ecofirst Advisory Services, the engineering consultancy business, for an undisclosed amount to Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. Later, in March, Quadria Capital Investment Advisors, an Asia-focused healthcare private equity fund, acquired Milestone Religare Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which runs a Rs.410-crore-healthcare and education fund. (Live Mint)